Fleeing suspect dies after being tasered

TONASKET – A Idaho man who was hitching on Highway 20 outside of Tonasket said he was picked up and later robbed at gunpoint. One of the suspects in the robbery died after being tasered by a law enforcement.

On April 4, at around 9:50 a.m. a U.S Forest Service Officer was contacted on Hwy 20 out of Tonasket. The 47-year-old from Sagle Idaho said he was hitchhiking on Hwy 20 when he was picked up by three people in a van, a female and two male subjects.

“The victim stated that during the ride the male subjects were using drugs and then started acting crazy. He said the male subject in the back seat pulled out a .22 caliber handgun and pointed it at his head. The victim stated that they stole $150.00 cash from him and his fly rod,” said Sheriff Frank Rogers. The suspects then let the victim out of the van who contacted the USFS Officer to report the incident.”

Deputies arrived at the scene and contacted the victim to get a statement, while other officers in the area continued to search for the suspect vehicle. At around 11 a.m. the same USFS Officer located the suspect vehicle and the three occupants on the Lyman Lake Road at the campground. As the USFS Officer drove by the suspect vehicle pulled out and he followed, calling for additional units, according to Sheriff Rogers.

A WSP Trooper arrived on scene and when they attempted to stop the vehicle, the driver of the vehicle accelerated. The pursuit turned onto BIA 66 Road and went approximately five miles when the van wrecked hitting a tree in the road. The two male occupants bailed out of the vehicle and took off running through the woods, the female remained in the van.

“As the Trooper and USFS Officer caught up to one of the suspects he was ordered to stop several times and then a taser was deployed. The suspect was secured and put into custody. The suspect then stopped breathing. CPR was begun and emergency personal were called to the scene but they were not able to revive the subject,” said Rogers.

The subject who was arrested and died at the scene was identified as William J. Dick III, 28, of Coulee Dam. The second male subject, who had ran from the van, eventually walked out to a road and turned himself into the Washington State Patrol. Arrested at the scene was Kyle S. Cate, 23 of Okanogan. Cate was later taken to the hospital to be checked out, cleared and then booked into the Okanogan County jail on armed robbery in the first degree, felony eluding, DWS third and an arrest warrant out of Lincoln County.

“Both Dick and Cate were identified by the victim as the two male suspects that had robbed him,” said the sheriff.

A search of the area was done and the vehicle, drugs were located in the vehicle and in the area. No weapon has been found at this time. The 33-year-old female who was in the vehicle was not booked at the time. Family was notified of Dick’s death. An autopsy will be performed tomorrow on Dick.